Ch 3. Unreal

Hearing her name being called, Idalia turned to see the figure of a slim woman standing on a small hill where the field began. The sun was setting therefore it's rays made it difficult for Idalia to see the person's features.

"There you are!" The woman started to run towards her and made her way through the wheat stalks. When she finally stood panting in front of her, Idalia was taken aback. The young woman had wavy long brown hair, her eyes were hazel, but her face was the same as Idalia's childhood friend, Cassandra or Sandra. They were neighbors until Idalia left for university so they barely met now which is why she was surprised to see her there.

"Sandra, what are you doing here?" Idalia asked. Cassandra's eyebrows rose hearing what she had called her.

"Sandra?" she pointed at herself with a confused face, "Are you referring to me?" Idalia nodded. "Oh, I like it! Anyways, we were searching for you!"

We? Idalia wondered. Before she could ask further, Cassandra asked, "Are you better now?"

"I'm fine," Idalia said, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because your plan to leave with the traveling performers failed," Cassandra said. What plan with traveling performers? Idalia asked herself. As she wondered what her friend was talking about, she finally noticed their outfits. It was an outfit that she had seen many times in school when they studied ancient times. They were both wearing chitons.

How strange, Idalia thought. They looked like the clothings she had seen in her dream. Her dream! She had forgotten about it when she had woken up to find that she was no longer in her room. Trying to remember what she had seen, Idalia looked down at the ground and stared. However, no matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn't remember what she had seen or better put, she knew what she had seen but the images were blurry. She remembered that she had seen her father and she had heard a girl's voice at a temple and she had seen her mother walking alongside her at some celebration. But she couldn't remember the images clearly.

"Idalia, you should go back home now. Your parents are so worried that they considered asking Commander Lucius to send soldiers to look for you," Cassandra said with a worried expression. "Everything will be fine. You know you're father only wants the best for you."

Idalia's focus was brought back to Cassandra and although she was even more confused, she nodded since she trusted her friend. Cassandra then grabbed her wrist gently before leading her out of the wheat fields and up a hill. She then asked Idalia, "Oh, do you want to go visit the market tomorrow? The Moon Shining Festivals are in a few days and I really want to buy some new fabrics to wear then."

Idalia's mind was spinning with the many strange things her friend was saying but to not seem strange, she followed along and responded, "Sure."

"Great! Let's meet in the morning then when the water level reaches ten," Cassandra happily said. "Also, I have to be at the temple the whole day after tomorrow so I might not see you then."

Idalia nodded along and was about to ask her what she meant when she spoke of the time of their meeting when they had reached the top of the hill and she abruptly stopped. In front of her, and a bit below, stood buildings and temples of stone, clay, and bricks. She could see people walking around in clothing similar to the ones she was wearing and far away she could see the outline of a body of water. The walk from where she had first awoken to where they were standing now had taken more than thirty minutes so the sky had darkened a bit making the place look even more unreal.

Idalia thought that the most she would get to see on ancient civilizations was through textbooks and museums where the artifacts were. Never had she imagined that she would be seeing an actual ancient empire.

However, she refused to believe that what laid in front of her was real. It's my imagination, she thought, since she didn't know what could make her stand in an ancient time. If she could be seeing it, how come the scientists, archaeologists, and engineers from the modern world couldn't? Therefore, she chose to believe that what she was seeing wasn't real.

"Come on, I'll take you home since you still look a little dazed," Sandra said before walking forward. With her wrist still being held, Idalia followed her friend towards the ancient buildings.

After passing a gate like thing that stood in between tall walls, the girls walked on many streets and paths turning left and right. On their way, Idalia saw many people from street performers to merchants and from children to elderly, all in ancient clothing doing many things. She saw what she considered were merchants packing their stuff to close up for the day. She saw children bidding goodbye to each other before running towards their own places where some women had been waiting for them at the door.

"Unbelievable," she quietly murmured.

After a few more twists and turns, she and Cassandra finally arrived at a bigger residence which was near one of the biggest temples. There was more space surrounding it and it had walls with an entrance door guarded by two soldiers. When the girls stood in front of them, the soldiers immediately recognized their master's daughter and opened the door. "Let's go, Idalia," Cassandra gently guided her, while the soldiers had bowed their heads.

When they had entered, Idalia saw how big the villa really was. The villa had two floor levels, there was a courtyard in the middle, and at the sides there were smaller buildings with some people in simpler clothing entering and exiting. On seeing the young ladies, those people would bow their heads before continuing with their work. As Idalia wondered who they were, she heard an all too familiar voice, "Idalia!"

Idalia immediately whipped her head to see her mom running towards her. Her mom was wearing something similar to what she had on with some gold bracelets and jewels on her neck and hands. Coming to stand right in front of her, Idalia was pulled into a tight embrace while she heard her mother repeatedly apologizing softly, "I'm sorry, my daughter. I'm so sorry."

They stayed together in that position for a few seconds before Idalia patted her mother's back and hoarsely informed her, "I can't breath."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Her mom released her and gently laid her hands on Idalia's shoulders. With the close distance between them, Idalia could see how swollen her mom's eyes were and how red her face was, too. "I'm sorry, Idalia! Your father and I should've never brought up the marriage discussion today after being aware that you were already upset." Idalia's mind was jumbled with all the bits of information she had heard and see but she continued to listen to what her mother was saying. "You still have a few months before you turn seventeen so we will bring up marriage once you're near that age."

Her mom moved to hold her hands, "Let's go inside, now. You haven't eaten dinner yet so I will ask the maids to make you something light to eat since it's already so late." Turning to Cassandra, she said, "Thank you, dear, for helping us look for her. You should go back home, your mother must be so worried right now." Letting go of Idalia, she led Cassandra to the main doors and ordered, "Lazarus, take Young Lady Cassandra home."

One of the soldiers moved to Cassandra's side and bowed his head, "Yes, Lady Catherine."

Cassandra also bowed her head at her, before looking up, "I'm always willing to help, Lady Catherine." Meeting Idalia's eyes, she reminded, "Don't forget our meeting tomorrow!" She once again bowed her head at both Idalia and her mother before wishing, "May the Gods grant you a peaceful night." Standing up straight again, Cassandra and the soldier, Lazarus, turned to leave the villa.